Tabià

Buildings with the combined functions of stable and barn can be found almost everywhere in the Alps, but in the Dolomites and specifically in the Biois Valley they take the form of a specific typology called “tabià”.

Although many of them have recently been adapted in order to accommodate residential units, the tabià is originally a building specifically devised for production. Actually, it represents the aggregation of the spaces needed to harbor the functions necessary to survive in a mountain environment (it’s, indeed, a combination of spaceactions!). The ground floor, made up of thick masonry walls to protect the building from humidity, used to host animals during winter time but could also accommodate woodworking spaces and storage for tools. The upper floors, entirely made of timber, typically present areas for the drying, processing and storage of hay, cereals and firewood.

Even though those buildings were crucial for the effective exploitation of the resources of alpine valleys, the building of a tabià was often too expensive and challenging to be carried out by a single family during the summer. For this reason in the Biois valley took hold a collaborative practice called “piodech”, in which community members helped with free labour the families who needed it, even in the construction of a new tabià.